The gunman who dressed for a wedding

On the morning of May 8, 1916, Genaro Pedraza walked the streets of north Houston decked out like a groom. But there was to be no wedding that day.

A few blocks away, Herlinda and Margarita Valdes were leaving their house at 1610 Fulton to go to their jobs at a laundry company. The women, both in their early 20s, had reached the corner of Pinckney Street when they came across the sharply dressed Pedraza.

Pedraza said nothing. In an instant, he shot the Valdes sisters before fatally shooting himself.

This was no random shooting. From that day’s Houston Chronicle:

They said that several years ago … their father and Pedraza were on good terms and that Pedraza came often to their home. Two years ago, he had asked Herlinda to marry him. She refused and since that time they have had nothing to do with him.

Both women were taken to St. Joseph Hospital and would eventually recover from their gunshot wounds.

Though information is scarce, it seems Herlinda Valdes (or Valdez) later married and would pass away in 1967. She appears to have been buried at Forest Park Lawndale.

Pedraza, who had no family in Houston, was buried in Washington Cemetery.